franksingleton
Well-known member
Coming from the north, fog should not be a problem- unless you are beating into a S to SW wind. Those are the directions when fog will be most likely. I would not want to enter `Ria Muros in fog without radar.
Bay of Biscay Crossing
- Thread starter Akestor
- Start date
Graham376
Well-known member
Problem we had on three crossings, one to Curuna and the others to and from Gijon, was not enough wind to sail much of the time. No fog in Biscay but lots down the Portuguese west coast, radar well used. French weather forecasts are the ones to watch, Biscay is divided up into (IIRC) 4 areas sometimes with very different weather north to south.
franksingleton
Well-known member
Some thoughts on Biscay crossings are at Crossing Biscay - A Weatherman's Perspective - Franks-Weather - The Weather Window. As this was strictly Biscay crossings and no further south than A Coruña, I did not mention fog in the Rias Bajas. This was written some years ago. I doubt thst many still use RTTY.
differentroads
Active member
I'm generally of the 'it's the land that'll kill you, not the sea' persuasion, with a strong aversion to lee shores which Finisterre certainly can be (I wished I'd bought the 'I Survived the Costa del Muerte ' t-shirt for sale in a bar in Corme when I was up there. Seemed a bit presumptious since we were fogbound and only half way round.)
But I had cause to think again when in A Coruna, a teenage Swedish singlehander was celebrating her successful second attempt at the crossing. On the first attempt she lost the boat in a capsize.
scotty123
Well-known member
There was an article some years ago, which showed the shape of the sea bottom off that coast, resulted in catastophic/dangerous seas, so not just the land .
saxonpirate
Active member
I think I've notched up ten crossings now, there and back. Eight doing the Falmouth/Coruna route and one doing Santander/Isle de Groix. The majority of those trips have been taken between May to July. I'm happy to say only two of those passages were uncomfortable.
One was 20hrs out and heading to Coruna in an Easterly gale, the seas were incredibly steep and dangerous. I remember one wave and the hole in front of it to this day, I thought I'd had it. This strong Easterly was caused by the top of the Spanish low and the bottom of a big high sitting over UK.
Perhaps my worst experience was in 1987 if I recall, when I was engulfed in fog just after leaving Coruna, and that didn't lift until I got into the Carrick Roads, Falmouth. I was navigating on Dead Reckoning and an RDF set, no radar. I will willingly admit I was exhausted when I reached Falmouth, and hallucinating for at least the last 12 hours. Not something I'd like to repeat.
One was 20hrs out and heading to Coruna in an Easterly gale, the seas were incredibly steep and dangerous. I remember one wave and the hole in front of it to this day, I thought I'd had it. This strong Easterly was caused by the top of the Spanish low and the bottom of a big high sitting over UK.
Perhaps my worst experience was in 1987 if I recall, when I was engulfed in fog just after leaving Coruna, and that didn't lift until I got into the Carrick Roads, Falmouth. I was navigating on Dead Reckoning and an RDF set, no radar. I will willingly admit I was exhausted when I reached Falmouth, and hallucinating for at least the last 12 hours. Not something I'd like to repeat.
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franksingleton
Well-known member
With weather forecasting these days such horrendous should be highly unlikely. In 2000 we were intending Dartmouth to A Corina on what looked like a good weather situation. At the bottom of the Chenal du Four I heard the BBC shipping forecast and decided to go into Ste Evette have a meal and review the situation. In the event we stayed in Audierne and watched boats coming in reporting F10s. Highly unusual in late May. It was two weeks before we had a favourable mailable wind.
differentroads
Active member
This afternoon's forecast from Ventusky for Biscay. 5m waves mixing it up with 40kn gusts. Good recipe for some really nasty waves to kick up in open water, never mind the shelf ??
Two years ago on my one and only crossing as skipper of my own boat I left Plymouth in a F4 westerly as a low was passing to the north with winds due to veer NW. 12 hours later, north of Ushant I turned and reached away to Falmouth after being beat up by F6 from the SW with gusts of 30k and waves that were frequently stopping the boat in its tracks. Second attempt was much eadier. Perfect beam reach for the first day,then dead calm for a day and a half (light westerly forecasted but not a breath of wind turned up) then a great beam reach in F5 from the west, surfing our way into A Coruna down 2-3m waves stirred up by strong winds south of Finisterre. (Well, my undercanvassed 10m 7T fin and skeg old girl managed to break hull speed half a dozen times in three hours, so 'surfing in' might be a bit of an exaggeration!)
stiknstring1
Member
Just got back from crossing Biscay (Portsmouth to Santander/return) in Brittany ferries. Saturday night crossing was the worst yet. previously, in my 40 then 50' sailing boat, I was able to choose departure times after looking at weather so only fog and lumpy weather experienced. on Saturday however between 23:00 and 03:00 we apparently had close to 60 knots and 10+ metre waves. it was real survival conditions for anything smaller than our comfortable 26,000 ton ferry! crests were whipped off wave tops, long, breaking rollers and the ferry dipping and slamming worse than any small boat I have been in. I guess the moral of this story is that judicious use of weather predictions is essential before crossing. I really rather enjoyed it . Seeing this fabled stretch of sea at its worst was a real experience.
franksingleton
Well-known member
Well. Yes!
| B/f 12 | 64 kts | Hurricane | The air is filled with foam and spray. sea completely white with driving spray, visibility very seriously affected. Or that which no canvas could withstand |
Akestor
Active member
It's funny that the strongest winds we experienced them after 2500 miles of sailing in the Corinth Gulf ( started from North France).
Biscay Bay (28knts NE) vs Corinth Gulf (32 knts) Westerlies
Biscay Bay (28knts NE) vs Corinth Gulf (32 knts) Westerlies